Sonny Rollins: Rollins In Holland

Like many fans of the magisterial tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins, I’m particularly enamored of his work in the demanding trio format, as exemplified on classics from the Fifties like Way Out West (Contemporary), Freedom Suite  (Riverside) and A Night At The Village Vanguard (Blue Note). The latest Resonance release of the Sonny Rollins Trio in 1967 is more than worthy of being held in the same respect. The two-CD or three-Lp set Rollins In Holland finds Rollins working with bassist Ruud Jacobs and the marvelous drummer Han Bennink in three different settings over a May weekend. Four tracks recorded at a studio in Hilversum start the program, followed by two pieces performed at the Go-Go Club that night for the nationally televised Jazz met Jacobs show, a program hosted by Ruud Jacobs’ brother Pim, a pianist. An extended version of Three Little Words, recorded two days earlier at a concert in Arnhem, concludes the first disc. Disc two is given over to the balance of the Arnhem concert, where a high-energy Rollins is in an expansive mood bolstered by the impeccable support of Jacobs and Bennink. Rollins was in top form for these performances, in what he describes as “a take-no-prisoners type of music.” While Rollins is generally thought not to be too interested in his past work, in a lengthy interview with producer Zev Feldman, he is unfailingly enthusiastic and informative about these recordings and the playing of Jacobs and Bennink. “It was a great, high point in my life,” he says. The feeling was mutual, as Jacobs, who passed away in 2019, was, throughout his life, very proud of playing with Rollins, and Bennink in an 2018 interview in the booklet says that for him, it was “the ultimate. Still.” That interview is part of the 98-page booklet that accompanies the discs, with a bounty of period photographs, a long essay by Rollins’ biographer Aidan Levy, who also did the interview, and, dear to a tape archivist’s heart, pictures of the tape boxes for these recordings plus the fascinating story about the discovery of the tapes (they were unlabelled!) by Dutch journalist and researcher Frank Jochemsen. In addition to the immense pleasure of soaking up the great jazz that’s spread out over the two discs, the sequencing gives the attentive listener an unusual opportunity to note how Rollins’ playing adapts to the immediate situation. In the studio, he tends to be terse. With an audience, he loosens up just a bit for the TV broadcast. Finally, there’s the concert, where the benefits of spontaneous creation amid supremely sympathetic companions really shine. Absolutely recommended. 

Resonance HCD 2048; Sonny Rollins (ts) Ruud Jacobs (b) Han Bennink (d); Hilversum, the Netherlands, May 5, 1967 (disc 1, tracks 1-4), Loosdrecht, the Netherlands, May 5, 1967 (disc 1, tracks 5 & 6), and Arnhem, the Netherlands, May 3, 1967 (disc 2); Disc 1 (63:26): 1.Blue Room/ 2.Four/ 3.Love Walked In/ 4.Tune Up/ 5.Sonnymoon For Two/ 6.Love Walked In. Disc 2 (66:45): 1.They Can’t Take That Away From Me/Sonnymoon For Two/ 2.On Green Dolphin Street/ There Will Never Be Another You/ 3.Love Walked In/ 4.Four. resonancerecords.org